WhatsApp reportedly to play YouTube videos within chats on iOS

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Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp is reportedly testing a feature that will allow iOS users to play YouTube videos within the chat screen. Reports suggest that users will not be able to continue watching the video if they quit WhatsApp. However, it is unclear when the feature will be rolled out for iOS users, and whether Android and Windows will follow soon.

WhatsApp is working on a new feature that will let you watch YouTube videos within the messaging app. When you hit a link to a YouTube video in current versions of the app, the YouTube app will open and take over your entire screen. This functionality isn’t exactly ideal, as it prevents you from simultaneously watching the video and seeing your messages, instead of forcing you to keep switching between the two apps.

People who have phones with split-screen functionality can actually view both apps at once right now, but this isn’t a widely available feature yet and the layout isn’t great anyway. A future WhatsApp update, however, will make things work a lot more pleasant.

According to WA Beta Info, it’s a hidden feature in the latest version of WhatsApp for iOS, which will be officially activated when it’s ready. Once it does roll out, you’ll be able to view YouTube videos in picture-in-picture mode right inside your WhatsApp chats.

WhatsApp will reportedly let you drag the video window around without stopping or pausing it, in order to get a better view of your messages, as well as resize it with a pinch, and view it in full-screen mode if you want to. That's because they have significantly bigger screens than the company’s other mobiles, something that's important for this particular feature to work well. There’s no word yet on whether or not the functionality will come to Android users too.

According to the report, the feature is likely to work with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S+, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus thanks to their bigger screen size. There’s no denying that other devices could support the feature in the future as well. It is unclear when the feature will be rolled out for iOS users, and whether Android and Windows will follow soon.